Etched into the stone of the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial is this, from April 11, 1944, when Anne Frank penned in her diary: “One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we’ll be people again and not just Jews! Who has inflicted this on us? Who has set us apart from the rest? Who has put us through such suffering?”

We teach to “never forget.”

Never forget that theSpiral of Injusticeoften begins with language — when words are used to demonize or marginalize others in the community. Never forget that injustice devolves to avoidance when “the other” is excluded through conscious or unconscious treatment that denies participation. Never forget that acts denying and disadvantaging “the other” based on class, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability or religious preference is discrimination. Never forget that violence intimidates and elimination eradicates “the other” in our community through deliberate and/or systemic destruction of life and/or liberty.

TheSpiral of Injusticeis a model we’ve creating for discussing the Holocaust, the attack or harassment of an Idaho student when he or she is viewed as “the other,” or the marginalization of any group within the fabric of our community.